Yes that is how it has always been, how long have you been...

Yes that is how it has always been, how long have you been investing for? If you've ever looked at a valuation of a company you'll see it uses pro forma financial statements as inputs, not existing or historical financials, because investors try to predict where the company will be in the future when making an investment decision. Obviously the future potential is discounted depending on the risk, but markets most certainly try to forecast what a stock could potentially be worth and will price it in the basis of that.

If you're buying stocks based on current performance that's a good way to lose. You need to research to try to anticipate where this company will be in the future, which can involve analysing things like market trends and comparing our product to competitors. Definitely harder to do when you have a largely pre revenue company, but it is certainly possible if you do a little research.

And yes, investing is naturally speculating on the future which is why some investments are successful and others not so much. It's really gambling but with much better odds - even Warren Buffett has had his fair share of losers!